Bag dispenser



N 1966 F. P. WINESETT 3,285,406

BAG DISPENSER Filed July 13, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Frank P Wineseh Attorney Nov. 15, 1966 F. P. WINESETT 3,285,406

BAG DISPENSER Filed July 13, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

/ Fi'ank P Wineseff L Attorney Nov. 15, 1966 F. P. WINESETT 3,285,406

BAG DISPENSER Filed July 15, 1964 5 Sheets-sheaf 5 32 INVENTOR.

Frank P Wfneseft United States Patent 3,285,406 BAG DISPENSER Frank P. Winesett, 653 Via Mirabel, San Lorenzo, Calif. Filed July 13, 1964, Ser. No. 382,282 9 Claims. (Cl. 206-57) This invention relates generally to a device for dispensing bags, and more particularly to a device for dispensing thin walled plastic bags.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bag dispenser for carrying, opening, loading and dispensing a type of bag having front and back sheets connected adjacent their side edges and having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of the front sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bag dispenser which may be constructed very economically with a minimum use of material and labor and which can be used in dispensing a stack of low cost disposable polyethylene bags which are normally difficult to stack with regard to lengthwise disposition of the bags.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bag dispenser which is constructed so that it may be used while being supported by the user or held in a stationary position.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: (3 sheets):

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bag dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention holding a stack of bags.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the bags shown in FIGURE 1 with a portion removed and showing a cross section of the bag.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective of the bag dispenser and stack of bags shown in FIGURE 1 on a reduced scale showing the dispenser in one of its uses.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 1 with a portion of the bags broken away illustrating the method for grasping one of the bags for filling.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 4 with a portion of the bag broken away illustrating the position of the bag prior to filling.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 5 with a portion broken away illustrating the method of separating a bag from the dispenser.

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 1 on an enlarged scale with a portion of a bag broken away.

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 7 taken along the line 88.

FIGURE 9 is a front elevational view of a modified form of a bag dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention with a portion of a bag broken away.

FIGURE 10 is a cross sectional view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 9 taken along the line 101ti.

FIGURE 11 is a front elevational view of a further modified form of a bag dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention with a portion of the bag and dispenser broken away.

FIGURE 12 is a cross sectional view of the bag dispenser shown in FIGURE 9 taken along line 12-12.

ice

The bag dispenser of the present invention consists generally of a back strip 6; a plurality of bags 8 mounted in a stack on the back strip, each having front and back opposed sheets 9 and 10 respectively connected adjacent their side edges 12 and 13, the back sheet having an end portion 14 extending beyond a free edge 16 of the front sheet; a front strip 7 disposed from the back strip and positioned in overlying relation to the bag end portions and extending downwardly over and releasably retaining the free edge; fastening means 17 joining the back and front strips for releasably retaining the bags for one at a time dispensing; and the front strip being spaced from the side edges to permit the free edge to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of the front strip While the back sheet is held by the fastening means and the front strip to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of the bags.

The bag dispenser is adapted for use with bags such as polyethylene bags which may in turn be used for any number of products such as newspapers, articles of food, hardware, clothing, chemicals or the like, and the width of the front strip extending downwardly over and releasably retaining the free edge is set to correspond with the size of the article being bagged. It is essential in bagging many of these products that the bags and the bag dispensers be constructed economically with a minimum use of material and labor. A feature of the present invention is that the bag dispenser may be made from plain heavy paper or cardboard.

In use, the bag dispenser may be carried by the user as shown by the paper boy in FIGURE 3, by slipping the back strip 6 over the boys belt.

Where the bags are to be dispensed from a stationary station, the bag dispenser is provided with one or more apertures 18 and 19 so that the bag dispenser may be depended from nails, hooks or the like.

Another main feature of the present invention is the ease with which individual bagsmay be grasped and pulled to an open position for filling. As stated previously, the bag dispenser may be made with a single depending ear from the front strip but generally it is preferable to provide a pair of laterally spaced depending ears 21 and 22 extending downwardly over and releasably holding a portion of the free edge of the front sheet of a bag. The spaced ears provide a finger slot 24 which extends above the free edge of the front sheet enabling the user to grasp the front sheet and move it downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of the ears as shown in FIGURE 4. The back sheet 10 remains in place by the cooperation of the fastening means 17 and the depending ears 21 and 22 to hold the.bag to a wide mouth opening for filling as shown in FIGURE 5.

Still another feature of the present invention is the ease by which an individual bag may be separated from the bag dispenser after it has been filled. Since the operator normally has a finger inserted over the free edge 16 as shown in FIGURE 6, the simplest means for releasing the bag is to merely continue to pull downwardly with the finger. A simple form of the invention [for holding the bags in the dispenser until they are ready to be separated is to merely hold the upper ends of the bags between strips 6 and 7 by pressure with a fastening means such as a spring. A quick downward motion of the bag by the finger pressure will release the bags one at a time. A simple and preferred form of the invention is to hold the bags in the holder by fastening means 17 such as a single wire staple. Preferably the staple 17 pierces the end portion 14 of the back sheet at a point near the upper edge 25 so that a minimum area of the bag is torn when it is pulled free of the fastening means 17.

Another modified form of the invention is shown in 3 FIGURE 9 in which a tear line 26 is formed in the back sheet 10 of each of the bags at a point spaced above the depending ears 21 and 22 but below the bottom edge 27 of the front strip and the fastening means 17.

One of the problems associated with stacking thin walled polyethylene bags is to stack these bags very precisely one on the other particularly with regard to the lengthwise disposition of the bags and then to assemble the stack and the holder. As mentioned above it is desirable to place the staple 17 as close as possible to the upper edge 25 of each of the bags. Since the bags will normally be assembled in numbers of 50 to 200 and the edges 25 will not be evenly positioned, a simple way of insuring that staple 17 is close to an edge of the bag is to provide a notch 28 in the bags after the bags are assembled in a stack. It is convenient to punch the notch in the bag dispenser at the same time. Thus it is possible to provide just enough material back of the staple to afford easy and proper pulling out of the bags and at the same time provide a uniform amount of material caught by the staple for all of the bags.

It is to be noted that each of the bag dispensers shown in the accompanying drawings are vformed with depending ears 21 and 22 which have side edges 31 and 32 converging downwardly to permit the front sheet 9 to be pulled free of the ears without catching or'tearing the bag. While the bag dispenser could be constructed without the converging edges it is desirable to form the ears so that they will not tear the bags because in order to be practicable the bags must be dispensed quickly and surely with a minimum amount of attention to the manner in which the bag is separated from the holder.

FIGURES 7 through 11 illustrate the three basic forms of the bag dispenser of the present invention. FIGURES 7 and 8 show a bag dispenser with the front and back strips 7 and 6 joined together with a single stapler 17 located between notch 28 and finger slot 24.

FIGURES 9 and 10 illustrate a bag holder in which the front and back strips are formed integrally and two staples are inserted through the front and back strips and through back portions 14 immediately above the perforated line 26.

FIGURES 11 and 12 show a further modified form of the bag holder in which bag strips 6 and 7 are separate pieces and are joined only by staple 17 A circular punchout 34 is provided immediately above the staple '17 to assist in forming the notch 28 in the bag dispenser and the bags.

The operation of one of the preferred forms of the invention may be seen in FIGURES 4, and 6. In FIG- URE 4, the operator places his finger in the finger slot opening 24 and grasps free edge 16 and pulls the edge downwardly until the edge clears the bottom edges 36 and 37 of ears 21 and 22. As shown in FIGURE 5 the finger remains on the inside surface of front sheet 9 while the bag is pulled outwardly. Bars 21 and 22 and staple 17 hold and spread the back sheet of the bag while it is being filled with a newspaper or other article. When the bag is filled, the operator pulls downwardly on the front sheet 9 as shown in FIGURE 6 until the bag tears loose from the staple 17 and clears ears 21 and 22. The remainder of the bags remain securely in the bag dispenser and remain in position for the next bag to be removed.

I claim:

1. A bag dispenser comprising, a back strip; a plurality of bags mounted in a stack on said back strip, each having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, said back sheet having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of said front sheet; a front strip having side edges disposed from said back strip and positioned in overlying relation to said bag end portions and extending in overlying relation and releasably retaining said .free edge; fastening means joining said back and front strips for releasably retaining said back sheet end portions for one at a time dispensing; and said front strip diges being spaced [from said bag side edges to permit said free edge to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said front strip while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and said front strip to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

2. A bag dispenser comprising, a back strip; a front strip spaced from and superimposed upon said back strip; a plurality of bags mounted in a stack each having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, said back sheet having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of said lfl'Ont sheet disposed between said strips; fastening means joining said back and front strips for releasably retaining said bags for one at a time dispensing; said front strip having a pair of laterally spaced depending ears extending downwardly over and releasably holding a portion of said free edge, said spaced ears providing a finger slot extending above said free edge enabling said front sheet to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said ears while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and ears to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

3. A bag dispenser as defined in claim 2 wherein said said back bag sheet is formed with a perforated tear line positioned below said fastener means to permit said bag to be separated from said end portion and removed from said dispenser.

4. A bag dispenser comprising, a back strip; a front strip spaced from and superimposed upon said back strip; a plurality of bags mounted in a stack each having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, said back sheet having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of said front sheet disposed between said strips; fastening means extending through said back sheet adjacent an end edge to permit said bag to be released from said dispenser by a pull which will tear a portion of said bag; said front strip having a pair of laterally spaced depending ears extending downwardly over and releasably holding a portion of said free edge, said spaced ears providing a finger slot extending above said free edge enabling said front sheet to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said ears while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and ears to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

5. A bag dispenser as defined in claim 4 wherein the upper end of said back bag sheet adjacent said fastening means is slotted so as to permit easy separation of said bags from said dispenser.

6. A bag dispenser for filling and dispensing a plurality of bags each having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, the back sheet having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of the front sheet, the dispenser comprising: front and back strips mounting a stack of bags therebetween; fastening means joining said back and front strips for releasably retaining said bags for one at a time dispensing; said front strip having a pair of laterally spaced depending ears extending downwardly over said bag end portion and free edge of said front sheet and releasably holding a portion of said free edge, said spaced ears providing a finger slot extending above said free edge enabling said front sheet to be grasped and moved downwardly by finger pressure, said front strip having side edges converging downwardly to permit said front sheet to be pulled free of said ears while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and ears to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

7. A bag dispenser for filling and dispensing a plurality of bags each having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, the back sheet having an end portion extending beyond a free edge of the front sheet, the dispenser comprising; front and back strips connected at their top edge and mounting a stack of bags therebetween; fastening means extending through and joining said bags to one of said strips for releasably retaining said bags for one at a time dispensing; said front having a pair of laterally spaced depending ears extending downwardly over said bag end portion and free edge of said front sheet and releasably holding a portion of said free edge, said spaced ears providing a finger slot extending above said free edge enabling said front sheet to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said ears while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and ears to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags; said dispenser and bags being formed with a notch extending adjacent said fastening means to said top edge to permit said bags to be separated from said dispenser by a pull whereby only a small portion of said bag is tom.

8. A bag dispenser for releasably holding a plurality of stacked bags having front and back opposed sheets connected adjacent their side edges, wherein said back sheet has an end portion extending :beyond a free edge of said front sheet comprising, a front strip adapted for positioning in overlaying relation to said bag end portions and extending in overlying relation and releasably retaining said free edge; fastening means mounted on said strip and adapted for connection with said back sheet end portion for retaining said bags for one at a time dispensing; and said front strip being spaced from said side edges to permit said free edge to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said front strip while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and said front strip to provide a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

9. A bag dispenser as described in claim 8 wherein: said front strip is formed with a finger slot exposing said free edge enabling said front sheet to be grasped and moved downwardly and outwardly by finger pressure free of said front strip while said back sheet is held by said fastening means and front strip to provide .a wide mouth opening during filling of said bags.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,077,664 4/1937 Beardsely 2065'7 3,100,569 8/1963 White 20657 3,144,960 8/1964 Membrino 20657 3,145,839 8/1964 Lowry 20657 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

W. T. DIXSON, Assistant Examiner. 

2. A BAG DISPENSER COMPRISING, A BACK STRIP; A FRONT STRIP SPACED FROM AND SUPERIMPOSED UPON SAID BACK STRIP; A PLURALITY OF BAGS MOUNTED IN A STACK EACH HAVING FRONT AND BACK OPPOSED SHEETS CONNECTED ADJACENT THEIR SIDE EDGES, SAID BACK SHEET HAVING AN END PORTION EXTENDING BEYOND A FREE EDGE OF SAID FRONT SHEET DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID STRIPS; FASTENING MEANS JOINING SAID BACK AND FRONT STRIPS FOR RELEASABLY RETAINING SAID BAGS FOR ONE AT A TIME DISPENSING; SAID FRONT STRIP HAVING A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED DEPENDING EARS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY OVER AND RELEASABLY 